WHO chief Tedros demands ceasefire after staff visit Gaza hospital

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is working on a plan to rescue the remaining patients from the al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, as quickly as is possible.

WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on Saturday night on the social media platform X, saying that staff had visited the hospital on Saturday and found "a deplorable situation."

"The team saw a hospital no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, medical supplies depleted," he posted.The team found a mass grave at the entrance to the hospital and were informed that more than 80 people were buried there, the World Health Organisation wrote in a statement on Saturday.

"Due to time limits associated with the security situation, the team was able to spend only one hour inside the hospital, which they described as a 'death zone,' and the situation as 'desperate.' Signs of shelling and gunfire were evident," the statement said.

The corridors and grounds of the hospital were full of medical and other waste, which increased the risk of infection. The lack of clean water, fuel, medicines, food and other essential supplies over the past six weeks has meant that the hospital is essentially no longer functioning as a medical facility.

"Given this deplorable situation and the condition of many patients, including babies, health workers requested support to evacuate patients who cannot receive lifesaving care there anymore," the WHO chief wrote.

They are working with partners and are asking for support for this plan. Tedros did not name Israel, whose military has captured the hospital, or the Palestinian organisation Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

"We continue to call for protection of health and of civilians. The current situation is unbearable and unjustifiable," Tedros wrote.

"Ceasefire. NOW," he added.